Marketers of consumer products are continually looking for improved and versatile means for packaging various goods. Certain characteristics, including those as discussed below, are particularly desirable.
The packaging should be visually and tactilely appealing to the consumer. This involves providing a clean and unitary appearance as well as a relatively sturdy construction. These characteristics give the impression that the package is of good quality and, therefore, that the packaged product is of good quality as well.
For many products today, it is necessary or desirable to provide related literature. For example, in the case of pharmaceutical products, certain regulatory information such as warnings, directions, lot number, and expiration date may be required to be presented with the product. In other cases, the marketer may simply want to provide promotional literature to induce purchase. Thus, it is desirable that packaging include means for displaying the information in a manner which does not detract from the overall appearance of the packaging. Further, it is often desirable to display the information in a manner which allows the information to be inspected without destroying the packaging in case the customer does not purchase the unit.
For many products, it is desirable that the packaging allow clear display of the product without breach of the packaging. That is, the product may be viewed without opening the package in a manner which would give subsequent potential purchasers the impression that the product or packaging has been improperly tampered with.
It is highly desirable that a given package of prescribed size and shape, as far as its outer configuration is concerned, be adaptable to house products therein of different shapes and sizes. Preferably, such adaptation of the package does not alter its exterior dimensions. In this way, the package may be handled, bulk packaged and displayed in a given standard manner or configuration without regard to the particular size or shape of the article.
Thus, there exists a need for a container which is visually and tactilely appealing to potential customers. Such packaging should give the impression that the packaging, and thus the packaged product, is of good quality and is sturdy. There exists a need for packaging which allows for the display of related literature. There exists a need for such packaging which further allows inspection of the related literature without destruction to the package. In general, there exists a need for a container which is versatile and may be used to package a variety of products. The packaging as described above should be cost effective to manufacture, assemble, and fill with product.